Molded rubber hand knob



April 20 1926.

H. D. GEYER MOLDED RUBBER HAND KNOB Filed Sept. 11, 1925 4W whim Patented Apr- UNlTEl) STATES HARVEY n. GEYER, or DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOB To run mum) murac'runme PATENT OFFICE.

COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A COBPQRATION OF DELAWAR mommn RUBBER-HAND xnon.

Application filed September 11, 1925. Serial No. 5533a.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVE Y DrGE ER, a citizen. of the United States of America, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Molded Rubber Hand Knobs, of which the following is a full,-clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to molded rubber articles and provisions for attaching the same to a supporting shank, and has special reference to a molded rubber hand knob attached to the upper end of-an automobile gear shift level or similar lever.

Heretofore rubber hand knobs have been made with a screw threaded metal insert molded in place therein and such hand knobs are secured to the lever by screwing the metal insert upon the correspondingly threaded upper end of the lever. This ,method of course requires machining and threading of the upper end of the lever as well as threading the metal insert, and the difliculty and expense of molding the metal insert in place in the rubber knob.

Now this invention provides a molded ru her hand knob which requires no such machined or threaded parts and which may be securely attached to the lever simply by pressing it down over the end of said lever. The, portion of the hand knob ordinarily grasped by the hand is made of hard vulcanized rubber and hence will last indefinitely and will take a bright polish while the ortion of the knob which grips the lever is ofyieldable rubber and hence may be suitably secured to the lever simply by ressing it down over the end of the lever, w ich fits within a recess in the knob.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein-a preferred form of embodiment of'the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawin Fig. 1 is a sid elevation of a gear shift hand knob made according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a phantom view of the hand knob assembled upon the. lever.

The same reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views.

The hand knob"9 comprises a ball-portion 10 having a projecting portion 11 molded integral therewith. The slightly tapering recess 12 and annular flange '13 are formed by a suitable core placed 1n the mold in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

\Vhen the uncured rubber compound is placed in the mold two kinds of compound are used, that forming the main ball portion 10 being of such consistency that it will vulcanize to hard rubber'while that forming the portion 11 will vulcanize to flexible rubber during the same curing process to which the mold is later subjected. Preferably the line of division between the hard and the flexible rubber lies approximately %long the dot and dash line 15 shown in The u per end of the gear shift lever 16 is rovi ed with a slightly tapering head 17 aving an abrupt shoulder 18 at its lower edge. The recess 12 is of such size that when p the hand knob 9 is pressed down firmly over the head 17 the yielding rubber bordering on the recess 12 will grip'the head 17 and thus retain the hand knob firmly in place. The annular flange 13 of flexible rubber of course yields sutficiently to permit the insertion 'of the enlar ed head 17 into recess 12, and when the hand knob is pressed down to its final position the .flange 13 snaps under the shoulder 18 and thus aids in retaining the hand knob in place upon the lever 16.

The ball portion 10 bein of hard rubber will form a suitable han grip and will take a high polish, while the yieldable portion 11 serves to firmly grip the head 17.

Obviously the head 17 does not have to be machined to exact dimensions, drop forged dimensions being sufiiciently accurate.

\Vhile the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, consti-' tutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims whlch follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A molded rubber. composition hand knob having a projecting portion integral therewith, said project" portion having a recess-thereinand adapts to he slipped over the end of asu porting shank, the outer surface of said: and knob being of such rubber composition that it vulcanizes harder than the rubber composition lying adjacent said recess.

2. A molded rubber hand knob having a recessed projecting portion integral therewith adapted' to fit over a supporting shank, the portion of said knob ordinarily grasped by the hand being of hard vulcanized rub-.-

berand said projecting portion being of yieldable vulca'nizedrubber.

3. A molded rubber hand knob having a recess therein adapted to fit over a supporting shank, the portion of said knob ordinarily grasped by the hand -being of hard vulcanized rubber and the portion surrounding said recess being of yieldable vulcanized rubber.

4. In combination, a hand lever having a shoulder thereon near the end thereof, a molded rubber hand knob having a recess .therein into which the end of said lever snugly fits, and a yieldable inturned flange on said rubber knob which engages said shoulder and aids in retaining said knob upon said lever.

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature.

HARVEY D. GEYER. 

